Seahawks Over/Under Win Total

[River_Dog]

Draft Kings has us at 7.5, which I think is a little low, so I'm taking over.

https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/leagu ... eason-wins

Here's the over/under on the rest of the league:

Cleveland 8.5 Chiefs 11.5
Dallas 10.5 Broncos 5.5
Niners 11.5 Browns 8.5
Jags 8.5 Bears 8.5
Steelers 8.5 Falcons 9.5
Fins 9.5 Texans 9.5
Titans 6.5 Packers 10.5
Rams 8.5 Giants 6.5
Bengals 10.5 Eagles 10.5
Bills 10.5 Jets 9.5
Ravens 11.5 Bucs 8.5
Raiders 6.5 Colts 8.5
Vikings 6.5 Panthers 4.5
Cards 6.5 Pats 4.5
Commanders 6.5 Saints 7.5
Lions 10.5

Besides us, which of those lines would you bet on? I have a couple. IMO 9 wins for the Bears seems very optimistic, so I'd take under. I also don't think that the Bengals are getting 11 wins in a division with the Ravens, Steelers, and Browns.

[4XPIPS]

If you are asking what I think are the more for sure picks.

Browns 9 + wins for sure, that defense is too good and with Watson healthy I think they are better than 8.5

Rams 6 wins, no more Aaron Donald makes a huge different. There has not been a single player in the last 8 years to single handily wreck an entire offense more than Aaron Donald. Stafford is having trouble staying healthy and consistent.

Bucs 7 wins or less, Bucs regress this year.

[River_Dog]

If you are asking what I think are the more for sure picks.

Browns 9 + wins for sure, that defense is too good and with Watson healthy I think they are better than 8.5

Rams 6 wins, no more Aaron Donald makes a huge different. There has not been a single player in the last 8 years to single handily wreck an entire offense more than Aaron Donald. Stafford is having trouble staying healthy and consistent.

Bucs 7 wins or less, Bucs regress this year.

The Browns prospects is one of the main reasons why I'd bet against the Bengals getting 11 wins. That division looks pretty strong.

[NorthHawk]

If the odds turn out to be accurate for us, we may get a pick in the top 5 with a couple of teams ahead already having selected a young QB.
Either way, we might be able to get one of the better QBs in the upcoming draft.

[River_Dog]

If the odds turn out to be accurate for us, we may get a pick in the top 5 with a couple of teams ahead already having selected a young QB.
Either way, we might be able to get one of the better QBs in the upcoming draft.

The odds are nothing more than a reflection of betting activity or anticipated betting activity.

I'm expecting a 9–10-win season, but I won't be disappointed if we don't get there.

[NorthHawk]

I think 7 or 8 wins is quite possible considering the adjustment to the new schemes and probable churn of players that don't fit what the new regime wants to do.
I don't want to lose any game, but the reality is this team is in a rebuild of sorts and that always causes issues.

[4XPIPS]

I think 7 or 8 wins is quite possible considering the adjustment to the new schemes and probable churn of players that don't fit what the new regime wants to do.
I don't want to lose any game, but the reality is this team is in a rebuild of sorts and that always causes issues.

I would say I am hoping and wouldn't be surprised if we finish with a 10 win season, but I wouldn't be disappointed as well if finished at 7 wins. I would be shocked and questioning things if we finished with 3 wins. But if I were betting money, I wouldn't bet anything on the Seahawks. You mentioned that the team is in a rebuild of sorts and that always causes issues, I would agree with the first part but not the second part. Always, not always the case. Nick Sirianni took over the Eagles in 2021 as a rookie head coach and started Hurts at QB that year and won 9 games. Next year nearly won the SB. So sometimes changeover can be quite successful early on.

[4XPIPS]

The Browns prospects is one of the main reasons why I'd bet against the Bengals getting 11 wins. That division looks pretty strong.

Plus Joe Burrow is still going through healing process of his torn ligament and some reports that his wrist will never be the same. One doctor said that the sack was so bad it shifted his bones in his wrist. It would be sad to see if his career is badly affected with this wrist injury.

[Aseahawkfan]

Be nice to win or do decent out of the gate. Hate to see Mike start off with a real bummer season as that would be a big hit to his confidence.

[NorthHawk]

We start with the Pats and Denver for the first two games so we should be 2-0 to start.
However, we get some real good teams after that.

[4XPIPS]

Anyone want to change their foresight on this topic after what we have seen and learned by now? I think this would be a fun exercise to see where everyone sits now. Who is buying the hype?!?! Is this Ryan Grubb offense legit?!?! Is this defense fixed with defense wizz Macdonald!?!? I can tell you from my standpoint I am stoked and can't wait. With the 53 set, and we have got a taste of preseason, and a sprinkle of Geno...

Hawks v Broncos W
Hawks @ Patriots W
Hawks v Dolphins L
Hawks @ Lions W (these games turn out to primetime classic shootouts)
Hawks v Giants W
Hawks v 49ers L
Hawks @ Falcons W
Hawks v Bills L
Hawks v Rams W
bye week
Hawks @ 49ers L
Hawks v Cards W
Hawks @ Jets L
Hawks @ Cards W
Hawks v Packers L
Hawks v Vikings W
Hawks @ Bears L (burr cold)
Hawks @ Rams W

10-7 and yes we sweep the Rams this year, no more Aaron Donald and our defense is built for the McVay type of offense.

[NorthHawk]

The first 4 or 5 games will be a test in my mind because of the changes to the scheme and the familiarity of it with the players. Mistakes will be made, but saying that I think the Seahawks should win the first 2.
The Falcons could be real good. They loaded up this off season so they might be a lot better than the last couple of years.
Rams always play us tough and we seem to have some bad luck in Phoenix. If Rodgers gets hurt, the Jets should be ripe for the taking.
I think our floor is 7 wins and ceiling is 9 if everything goes right.

We didn't see much of Grubbs Offense in preseason but some of the concepts looked like the things we should have been doing for the last 10 years or more.
It's going to be fun and interesting to see how it all develops.

[4XPIPS]

The first 4 or 5 games will be a test in my mind because of the changes to the scheme and the familiarity of it with the players. Mistakes will be made, but saying that I think the Seahawks should win the first 2.
The Falcons could be real good. They loaded up this off season so they might be a lot better than the last couple of years.
Rams always play us tough and we seem to have some bad luck in Phoenix. If Rodgers gets hurt, the Jets should be ripe for the taking.
I think our floor is 7 wins and ceiling is 9 if everything goes right.

We didn't see much of Grubbs Offense in preseason but some of the concepts looked like the things we should have been doing for the last 10 years or more.
It's going to be fun and interesting to see how it all develops.

I think you projections are more "realistic" as mine are more optimistic, and respectfully I think your assessment is more spot on than me.

[Oly]

The first 4 or 5 games will be a test in my mind because of the changes to the scheme and the familiarity of it with the players. Mistakes will be made, but saying that I think the Seahawks should win the first 2.
The Falcons could be real good. They loaded up this off season so they might be a lot better than the last couple of years.
Rams always play us tough and we seem to have some bad luck in Phoenix. If Rodgers gets hurt, the Jets should be ripe for the taking.
I think our floor is 7 wins and ceiling is 9 if everything goes right.

We didn't see much of Grubbs Offense in preseason but some of the concepts looked like the things we should have been doing for the last 10 years or more.
It's going to be fun and interesting to see how it all develops.

With the huge unknowns in terms of coaching and scheme, the floor/ceiling gap is larger than in most years. It's just so hard for me to look at this team and feel good about nailing a 2-win gap. I guess I wouldn't be shocked at 5-6 wins, but I equally wouldn't be shocked with 11-12.

Why 5-6 seems plausible: New schemes, but especially ones on offense with complicated motion and, probably, cadences. Not only could I see lots more false starts and delay of games, but with this hugely inexperienced OL I can see lots more assignment mistakes. So I could see a world in which we can count off 5 drives as lost causes before the kickoff, just because there might be 5 times where a false start is followed up by a pressured throw/sack from a missed assignment, and then they're in 3rd and 15. On defense, we're an injury at LB away from some real problems, we don't have a game-wrecking pass rusher, and I'm not convinced that our safeties can cope with extra time in the pocket. That's lots of question marks on both sides of the ball. I'm not saying I think any of this will happen, but would any of us be shocked if it did?

Why 11-12 seems plausible: These new schemes confuse defenses that haven't seen them, and even if MM's defensive schemes aren't new, they're so creative that knowing what the Ravens did last year or even what the Hawks did last week doesn't mean opposing offenses will have great ways to beat those schemes. So if they can keep mistakes down, we could see meaningful scheme advantages on each side of the ball. As long as Geno keeps getting the ball out quickly, that mitigates the blocking problems and there might not be a better receiving corps than the Hawks (and they're top 3 regardless). In a passing league, there is a believable world in which the Hawks are top-5 in points. On defense, I'm of the belief that a pocket-collapsing DT is the most important player other than QB, and with Williams and Murphy...holy s***, that could be absolutely deadly to other teams. That opens up Mafe and MM's creative rush schemes (which he can pull off without lots of blitzers), and with one of the best CB tandems in the league, I can see the Hawks being top-5 in pass defense. Top-5 points and top-5 pass defense is what we see on 13-win teams. Do I think this is likely? Probably not, but I also don't think any of this is absurd homerism.

I suppose this lands me at a prediction of 8.5, so betting the over makes sense, but I honestly can't tell you if I think 6 or 12 are more likely. It's going to be an interesting year, at the very least. Which is so much better than we've been able to say for several years.

[c_hawkbob]

The only limb I'm willing to go out on this year is that if the O/U line is 7.5 I'll take the over.

If it was 8.5 I'd have to put a lot more thought into it.

[River Dog]

IMO the over on 7.5 wins for us would be a very smart bet. There's a lot of very winnable games on our schedule, including Denver, New England, the Bears, Jets, Giants, Falcons, Rams x2, Cards x2.

[4XPIPS]

How does Adam Rank have a job in the NFL media? If you want to see his predictions of the Seahawks, jump to 26 secs and watch from there. 5-12(corrected by Riv ), and has us on a 6 game losing streak. LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnGdjM6dMy8

[River Dog]

How does Adam Rank have a job in the NFL media. If you want to see his predictions of the Seahawks, jump to 26 secs and watch from there. 5-11, and has us on a 6 game losing streak. LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnGdjM6dMy8

I doubt that we'll end up 5-11. It's a 17-game schedule.

But I get your point. It's obviously possible that we could end up with 5 or fewer wins, but I think that the most logical, informed forecast is somewhere between 7 and 11 wins. It's also statistically more likely, as last season, 21 of the 32 teams finished within that range. So long as it's not a situation where the head coach obviously loses the team, like what happened in the Mora year, I'm not going to jump out any windows if we go 5-12.

[4XPIPS]

I doubt that we'll end up 5-11. It's a 17-game schedule.

Ooops 5-12 is what he put up, good catch. To have us lose our home opener, but somehow beating the Bills on the road? He gets paid to do this?

[River Dog]

To have us lose our home opener, but somehow beating the Bills on the road? He gets paid to do this?

Hehe. That's why I don't pay a lot of attention to predictions and forecasts. I swear, some of those so-called professionals watch less football than we do, that or they design their forecasts to appeal to as wide of audience as possible rather than produce a well thought out document based purely on football.

The over/under line that we see is similar in that it's more of a popularity contest as it's based on anticipated betting activity rather than purely football stuff. But if you're know what you're doing, you can take advantage of people's stupidity, which is why I think taking over on a 7.5 Seahawk win total is a good bet.

[NorthHawk]

I think most of these types only look at the Eastern teams and not much beyond the Mississippi outside of the dominant teams or teams with big names.
I watch a number of football shows and they often talk about teams for around 5 minutes but I've not seen anyone talk about Seattle for more than a few seconds and it's usually in reference to MacDonald coming from Baltimore or who the Seahawks play this year with the Seahawks only being the opponent while they concentrate on the other teams. Dallas, on the other hand usually gets 5 to 10 minutes 3 times a week as Jerruh continues his search for the 'Glory Hole'. For me, it's to the point that the talking heads are repeating themselves and so I switch to another channel or do something else for a few minutes.

[Rambo2014]

Happy New Season, Boys!!!! LOL

Ol Bo Nix will rip you a new one Sunday just like the Duck do LOL

For the season wins and losses

Rams 13-4
Niners 11-6
Arz 8-9
Sea 5-12

Also how bout them Mariners

[4XPIPS]

Happy New Season, Boys!!!! LOL

Ol Bo Nix will rip you a new one Sunday just like the Duck do LOL

For the season wins and losses

Rams 13-4
Niners 11-6
Arz 8-9
Sea 5-12

Also how bout them Mariners

No more Aaron Donald, it will take 2 seasons for the Rams to get 13 wins. Rams get 9 wins tops this season if everyone magically stays healthy, and the 49ers have resigned all their important pieces. 49ers with 13 wins this season and win the division. I hope you put money on the Rams winning on the NFC West

[4XPIPS]

Happy New Season, Boys!!!! LOL

Ol Bo Nix will rip you a new one Sunday just like the Duck do LOL

For the season wins and losses

Rams 13-4
Niners 11-6
Arz 8-9
Sea 5-12

Also how bout them Mariners

Rams are going to need to go 13-3 the rest of the way to get to 13-4,don't tuck tail and run away now.

[4XPIPS]

Happy New Season, Boys!!!! LOL

Ol Bo Nix will rip you a new one Sunday just like the Duck do LOL

For the season wins and losses

Rams 13-4
Niners 11-6
Arz 8-9
Sea 5-12

Also how bout them Mariners

Rams are going to need to go 13-3 the rest of the way to get to 13-4,don't tuck tail and run away now.

Rams off to a great start 0-2.Eww, gonna have to go 13-2 to get that 13-4 record. Where did you go?

[River Dog]

Although I think that we win again next weekend against the Tua-less Fins, I'm still looking at a 9-10 win record as originally forecasted. Here's how I see the rest of the season going at this point in time:

Broncos W
Pats W
Fins W
Lions L
Giants W
Niners L
Falcons W
Bills L
Rams W
Niners L
Cards W
Jets W
Cards L
Packers L
Vikings L
Bears W
Rams W

10-7 with a wild card entry. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.

[4XPIPS]

Although I think that we win again next weekend against the Tua-less Fins, I'm still looking at a 9-10 win record as originally forecasted. Here's how I see the rest of the season going at this point in time:

Broncos W
Pats W
Fins W
Lions L
Giants W
Niners L
Falcons W
Bills L
Rams W
Niners L
Cards W
Jets W
Cards L
Packers L
Vikings L
Bears W
Rams W

10-7 with a wild card entry. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Anything can change at any time, a big time injury can derail our season or any teams season. However, I think the Lions isn't a loss to me. It is a toss up, but the Lions won in OT against the Rams, also got smoked today by the Cards today, and lost at home to the Bucs. I am just saying the Lions who were considered to be one of the top 3 teams in the NFC isn't looking like it at the moment. The Saints look like world beaters right now.

Speaking of other teams in our division. The Rams with no Aaron Donald, look horrible and now have lost Puka and Cooper to injuries. Maybe they won't lose these key receivers for a long period, but their offense relies on so much mismatches and crossing routes over the middle and Cooper Kupp when healthy is the best slot receive in the game, and he is out along with Puka.

The Cards looked very dominant on offense today. So it will be quite interesting, I still think it will be the 49ers wining the division, and us finishing 10-7

[River Dog]

Although I think that we win again next weekend against the Tua-less Fins, I'm still looking at a 9-10 win record as originally forecasted. Here's how I see the rest of the season going at this point in time:

Broncos W
Pats W
Fins W
Lions L
Giants W
Niners L
Falcons W
Bills L
Rams W
Niners L
Cards W
Jets W
Cards L
Packers L
Vikings L
Bears W
Rams W

10-7 with a wild card entry. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Anything can change at any time, a big time injury can derail our season or any teams season. However, I think the Lions isn't a loss to me. It is a toss up, but the Lions won in OT against the Rams, also got smoked today by the Cards today, and lost at home to the Bucs. I am just saying the Lions who were considered to be one of the top 3 teams in the NFC isn't looking like it at the moment. The Saints look like world beaters right now.

Speaking of other teams in our division. The Rams with no Aaron Donald, look horrible and now have lost Puka and Cooper to injuries. Maybe they won't lose these key receivers for a long period, but their offense relies on so much mismatches and crossing routes over the middle and Cooper Kupp when healthy is the best slot receive in the game, and he is out along with Puka.

The Cards looked very dominant on offense today. So it will be quite interesting, I still think it will be the 49ers wining the division, and us finishing 10-7

A lot of weird things have happened so far this season. Who would have thought that the Ravens would start out 0-2? Or, how about the Falcons beating the Eagles last night? The Niners without McCaffery look pretty bland, and now they've lost Deebo for a period of time. So, for the time being, with the exception of moving this weeks game into the win column and conceding a split with the Cards, I'm standing pat. 9-10 wins, wild card berth.

[Old but Slow]

Arizona is a real wild card. They are playing well and will win a lot of games, barring injuries, of course.

[4XPIPS]

Such an unpredictable season thus far. 3-0 Hawks, 3-0 Vikings, 3-0 Steelers, 0-3 Bengals? Yup that is exactly what we all thought it would be... NOT!

Lions are pretty banged up as well, and they have been struggling to stay consistent themselves, and with Sam LaPorta hurt as well I can see us winning the next 3 games. I know I am getting ahead of myself, but Lions vs Hawks, usually ends up being a classic shoot out. Giants aren't very good, and have one playmaker in Malik Nabers, and the 49ers are decimated with injuries so it's quite possible we could be 6-0 after the 49ers game.

I am upping my record to 12-5 for the Hawks. They haven't broken out offensively yes, and the defense isn't perfect, but name near the top in many categories and is going to shut down opposing offenses. 12 wins is to me is a real possibility.

[River Dog]

Such an unpredictable season thus far. 3-0 Hawks, 3-0 Vikings, 3-0 Steelers, 0-3 Bengals? Yup that is exactly what we all thought it would be... NOT!

Lions are pretty banged up as well, and they have been struggling to stay consistent themselves, and with Sam LaPorta hurt as well I can see us winning the next 3 games. I know I am getting ahead of myself, but Lions vs Hawks, usually ends up being a classic shoot out. Giants aren't very good, and have one playmaker in Malik Nabers, and the 49ers are decimated with injuries so it's quite possible we could be 6-0 after the 49ers game.

I am upping my record to 12-5 for the Hawks. They haven't broken out offensively yes, and the defense isn't perfect, but name near the top in many categories and is going to shut down opposing offenses. 12 wins is to me is a real possibility.

Yeah, too bad I didn't lay down some money on that 7.5 over/under win total as was my instinct.

But I'm waiting at least another week or two before I revise my forecast. I've always maintained that it takes 4-5 weeks before one can analyze a strength of schedule as it takes that long for teams to sort themselves out, so I'm still standing pat with my 9-10 win season. I did have Miami in the loss column and I figured that we'd get swept by the Niners. But there's a couple other teams, like the Jets and Vikings, that I'd penciled in wins over.

It's not shocking that the Chiefs and Bills are 3-0. But the other three undefeated teams, us, Vikings, and Steelers, are a bit of a surprise to most people. As you noted, the Bengals are one of the bigger disappointments. The Titans and Jags might be in for a long season.

I was very impressed with the Commanders and Jayden Daniels. They could make some noise in that division as both the Eagles and Cowboys look suspect.

[River Dog]

We're essentially at the halfway point of the season, so I thought it would be interesting to dig up some of our predictions and see how they came out. Here was my prediction, posted just after the season opener, although I was on record as predicting a win against the Broncos:

Although I think that we win again next weekend against the Tua-less Fins, I'm still looking at a 9-10 win record as originally forecasted. Here's how I see the rest of the season going at this point in time:

Broncos W
Pats W
Fins W
Lions L
Giants W
Niners L
Falcons W
Bills L
Rams W
Niners L
Cards W
Jets W
Cards L
Packers L
Vikings L
Bears W
Rams W

10-7 with a wild card entry. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.

The only one I missed on so far was the Giants game, so the season is going more or less the way I expected it to.

[Oly]

I think this is a helpful exercise right now. Lots of people in the fanbase are getting panicky, but this is what most of us expected. The Hawks look a .500 team, and that means they're going to look like crap sometimes. But other times, you can see promising signs. I had originally ended up predicting a .500 record but saying that I wouldn't be surprised with either 6 or 12 wins. The low end seems unlikely from a purely statistical point of view (it would mean going 2-7 the rest of the way), but I'll be honest that I think they look more likely to finish under .500 than over.

[NorthHawk]

Most of us fans look at the last few years record and then try to form an opinion based on just some minor tweaks of the roster and schemes to project. So when things get tough the fan base gets upset. If they realized that these are usually fairly major structural changes they would expect games like the Lions (loss but played well) and Falcons games come with the Giants and Bills debacles.
It’s part of the transition process that we have to go through.

[River Dog]

I think this is a helpful exercise right now. Lots of people in the fanbase are getting panicky, but this is what most of us expected. The Hawks look a .500 team, and that means they're going to look like crap sometimes. But other times, you can see promising signs. I had originally ended up predicting a .500 record but saying that I wouldn't be surprised with either 6 or 12 wins. The low end seems unlikely from a purely statistical point of view (it would mean going 2-7 the rest of the way), but I'll be honest that I think they look more likely to finish under .500 than over.

That's why I posted it. I wasn't bragging about my predictive powers. I wasn't the only one who made such a forecast. Rather, I was using it to demonstrate how the season is unfolding, ie pretty much according to expectations.

If I were to predict the rest of the season, I'd have us splitting with the Cards as they look better than I expected, and maybe a split with the Rams, too. That would put us at either 9-8 or 8=9.

[NorthHawk]

With the way we play at home, I'm not so sure about splits with teams. Maybe we've become one of those teams that plays better on the road. At times it seems that way.
I can see us easily being swept by both the Rams and Cards, we are that type of team and lose our 2nd game to the 49ers to boot. Who knows what's going on with the jets, but the Packers and Vikings will be tough games and the Bears are playing a lot better this year.
Perhaps that's the pessimistic view but we are such an unpredictable team at the moment, we could lose all of the rest of the games or maybe win 7 of the last 9. At this point I don't know what to expect other than tough games for us.

[River Dog]

With the way we play at home, I'm not so sure about splits with teams. Maybe we've become one of those teams that plays better on the road. At times it seems that way.
I can see us easily being swept by both the Rams and Cards, we are that type of team and lose our 2nd game to the 49ers to boot. Who knows what's going on with the jets, but the Packers and Vikings will be tough games and the Bears are playing a lot better this year.
Perhaps that's the pessimistic view but we are such an unpredictable team at the moment, we could lose all of the rest of the games or maybe win 7 of the last 9. At this point I don't know what to expect other than tough games for us.

I agree, but I didn't, or haven't, predicted which games we'll win and lose. We usually get a huge number of 12's in Glendale for the Cards away game, sometimes feels like a home game. The Rams don't have a very passionate fan base. When I make my yearly excursion to Las Vegas, and on an NFL Sunday when everyone wears their colors, the fewest game jerseys I see are Rams and Chargers, and they're the closest to Las Vegas.

The Rams looked pretty good last week, and we looked like crap, so I'm picking us to lose this weekend.

[Oly]

That's why I posted it. I wasn't bragging about my predictive powers. I wasn't the only one who made such a forecast. Rather, I was using it to demonstrate how the season is unfolding, ie pretty much according to expectations.

If I were to predict the rest of the season, I'd have us splitting with the Cards as they look better than I expected, and maybe a split with the Rams, too. That would put us at either 9-8 or 8=9.

I was just echoing and giving kudos to your post.

[River Dog]

That's why I posted it. I wasn't bragging about my predictive powers. I wasn't the only one who made such a forecast. Rather, I was using it to demonstrate how the season is unfolding, ie pretty much according to expectations.

If I were to predict the rest of the season, I'd have us splitting with the Cards as they look better than I expected, and maybe a split with the Rams, too. That would put us at either 9-8 or 8=9.

I was just echoing and giving kudos to your post.

I probably should have said something like what you said in my original remarks, that I thought since we're all feeling pretty down about our current losing skid, that it might help to keep thing in perspective and recall what our expectations were at the beginning of the season, that we're not all that far off.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm not feeling down. I think anyone who thought this would be some quick turnaround and immediate contention had highly unrealistic expectations. I went into this season expecting a multiyear rebuild and my expectations have not changed. I could care less about winning this year. I want a quality rebuild than a prolonged period of contention once we get the talent necessary for contention, especially at the QB position.

I don't buy any coach or GM telling me something isn't a rebuild. You know when your team falls apart, no longer has the talent to compete, and is in rebuild mode. If you have a GM and head coach that don't know this, then I don't know that I want them for very long.

NFL teams have very clear down periods, usually at the end of a coaching or QB cycle that requires a full rebuild where you turnover the talent, want some down years for elevated draft picks, and must take time to let the new head coach develop the talent to execute their scheme.

The hope is that after a few years, the head coach's schemes work with the acquired talent to form a long-term competitor for a new contention cycle.

I went into this season to watch Mike MacDonald operate as a coach. I don't expect to see true contention for a few years. This team has been notably bereft of competitive talent. Until it builds its talent base, especially on defense we wont' be real contenders.